Capital-rich life sciences start ups are on the hunt for space

With demand for life sciences real estate very strong and the supply of suitable space still limited, rents are growing, said Douglass Cuff, vice president of UK real estate with IQHQ REIT, which specialises in creating property for the sector.

Life sciences companies want amenity rich space to attract talent but, as a result of the covid health crisis, want to control their supply chain so are looking for non-city centre manufacturing and bio-manufacturing facilities too, Cuff told Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts

There are more new entrants to the sector too. “When I started in the sector about 20 years ago there were only two players in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now there are over 26 and when you have new entrants you have new capital,” he said.

In the UK he said there are half a dozen start-ups that have raised £1 billion apiece. They usually congregate around academic centres of excellence, be that Cambridge, Oxford, London, Glasgow or Edinburgh in the UK. The US life sciences market is becoming crowded so expect firms to look for alternative locations to invest their capital. The UK and Europe are logical targets, he added.

Click on the video above to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.

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